Blind & Broken

Chapter Seven

"Oh my goodness!" A woman's voice exclaims to the left. Jeremy gently sets me down, but I grip his sleeve for good measure.

"We found her," Jeremy explains. "She was in the woods dying from hypothermia. We took care of her on the way down as best we could but we knew you'd be better help, especially for cleaning her up." I crease my forehead in a frown. How bad is it?

"Oh my goodness!" The woman says again, but she's a lot closer to me. I'm surprised I didn't feel or hear her walk over. But then she's touching me and it makes me jump. She gently pulls my hands from Jeremy's shirt and holds them in her own. "You poor thing! Are you hurt at all? Do we need to take you to a hospital?"

I quickly shake my head no. "No hospitals! Please." I add quietly.

"Okay," She tells me, "No hospitals. But why don't we get you cleaned up, sound good?"

I give a timid nod and then Jeremy's dad cuts in. "Oh, and she's blind."

"Oh my! And you survived out in those woods all this time?" The woman asks me.

I shrug. "Well I was only out there for about a day before Jeremy found me. I'd just run away from home, you see." Wait, why am I telling these people this? They didn't need to know that.

The woman gasps. "Honey, do we need to call the police? Were you being abused?"

I flinch away from her, my eyes wide. "What? No! I promise you it's nothing like that. I've just never felt like I belonged there, that's all. I've decided to start a new life, hopefully far away from there. So, I'm sorry and I thank you for your kindness, but I don't plan on being here very long."

"No, of course!" She exclaims, her voice a soft, motherly tone. "I understand. How about this: we clean you up and you get a good nights sleep, and tomorrow, we'll take you wherever you need to go."

I smile. "Thank you, but really I just need to get to the train. I'm capable of surviving on my own, I promise. Especially now that I'm out of those woods!"

The woman takes my hand and starts slowly leading me through the house. "Well you can't go looking like that! I'll clean you up and get you food and a bed, no need to worry about anything else right now. We'll discuss everything else tomorrow, okay?"

I sigh quietly, but I nod. Being clean did sound pretty nice at the moment! I keep my hand trailing along the wall as she guides me through her home. We turn several times and her steady hand keeps me from stumbling; I appreciate it a lot.

"There's some stairs here, Sweetie." She warns and I tentatively put my foot on the first step. Once I can feel it, I quicken my pace with confidence and we hurry up the stairs. When the floor levels out again, it doesn't take long before she turns to the right and the carpet disappears, being replaced with cool tile.

"Do you need any help?" She asks gently.

"No," I start, but then I hesitate. It's an unfamiliar place. But at the same time, she's a strange woman. Do I want her helping me bathe?

"If we just pretend your a toddler, it might not be so weird." She offers gently, as if reading my thoughts. I can't help but laugh. I give her a timid nod and I hear her step closer and close the door as she walks into the bathroom. "I'll start the water while you get undressed."

"Okay." My voice is so quiet, I'm not even sure she heard me. She shuffled past me and I hear the water turn on, gushing into the tub.

Shaking, I start to pull off my grimy clothes. I know she's going to ask if I've been abused. Because I'm a runt, I don't gain weight or muscle nearly as fast as the other wolves. I'm a twig. At least I'm pretty sure I look like one. Based on how my arms feel and the fact that I can feel my ribs clearly through my skin, I probably look malnourished. Plus, my chest is barely a grade up from flat as a board, so I look twelve.

"Oh my!" The woman exclaims and I duck my head in embarrassment. "Are you sure you've been okay?"

I nod vigorously. "I'm just little, I promise." I tell her.

"Okay. . ." Her voice sounds unsure, but I'm telling the truth! I just hope she doesn't call the police later tonight.

She ushers me towards the tub, warning me about the ledge, and I slide in a little less than gracefully. It's so nice and warm that I nearly sigh in content. I rub my arms and neck with the water and my hands, hoping to dislodge any dirt sitting there. I know my hair is going to be the worst!

Soft hands suddenly grab hold of my hair and I can smell the soap she's lathering into it. I also hear the plinks of dried dirt hitting the water and I cringe thinking about how awful I must look.

But I close my eyes and relax letting her shampoo my nasty hair; it reminds me of Flicker. While she never bathed me at home or anything, she often brushed my hair and she was always there to help me around the house. She was more of a motherly figure to me than my own mother. And that's just sad.

"Alright it looks good to me!" She announces suddenly and I open my eyes — as if I can see the results! I sit up in the tub as she drains the bath and she helps me out and into a towel that's so soft, I want to cry.

"I'm not sure if we have any clothes that will fit you, so I hope your okay with baggy things." She tells me as we walk down the hall, sounding sorry for me. I don't want her pity, I just want to go to sleep!

A door shuts behind us and I realize we've gone into another room. It must be a bedroom. "I have some leggings that might be okay, but the t-shirt will be big." She places a few things in my hands.

"That's okay," I shrug.

"Great!" Her tone tells me she's smiling. "I'll let you get dressed then, and I'll be waiting outside the door."

I smile, "thanks." I appreciate her wanting to give me privacy, but it's not like it matters. She just gave me a bath like a child! But I'm also glad she didn't ask if I needed help getting dressed.

I crouch on the floor and throw the towel a little off to the side. Using the tags on the clothes to tell me which way they face on my body, I pull them on, finding they fit better than she thought they would. They're actually quite comfortable!

"You can come in!" I call, not sure where the door was and not wanting to bump into everything trying to find out. The door opens and she steps in, gently grabbing my arm and leading me out.

"What about the towel?" I ask.

"I'll get it later, don't worry." We turn into another room and I hear her flick the light on. "This was Jeremy's sister's room," she says. "Sorry it's a little childish. Oh wait, sorry, I-I forgot." She stammers and I try not to grimace.

"It's okay," I try to reassure her. "It's hard to get used to at first." I open my mouth again to ask about the sister, but I decide to leave it be in case it's a sensitive topic. The way she said it sounded like the girl passed as a little kid, and I didn't want to make her sad again by talking about it.

She guides me across the room and I feel a feathery, lightweight curtain between us and the bed. Jeremy's mom pulls it back and helps me into the twin size bed. "Thank you." I tell her and pull the covers right over my body.

"Of course, Dear. You've obviously been through a lot." She pauses, as if she's hesitant to say something. "You- you kind of remind me of Jenna." I blink, unsure of what to say. But I hear her retreating footsteps and decide to stay quiet. "I'll work on getting you a train ticket to the East for tomorrow." The door clicked shut and I closed my eyes, falling right to sleep.